Ed Metzger in his solo show, performing since 1978, Albert Einstein, The Practical Boheian; and Ed Metzger in another one-person show Hemingway, On The Edge.
More links from Wiki. Metzger also wrote and researched the roles. I'd love to get my hands on some of the writing to take a look at it.
Nothing on the tube on it. Clever.
Here's the link to his site: http://www.einstein-hemingway-shows.com/
What it makes me think of is that priest. THAT priest.
What's interesting about these one person plays is that the ones that have gone on to become successful have basically been done organically and from scratch by the people involved. You know, written, acted and produced by kinda thing.
Tuesday, 20 March 2012
Performing as SOMEONE ELSE
Hal Holbrook performed as Mark Twain (in other words giving the dead a voice) in Mark Twain tonight. There's a lot to be said for that approach. It makes it do-able for people. Something they can project onto before arriving, something they can have expectation about. It's also fucking interesting if you can find someone who is interesting enough to pretend to be.
Hmm.
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So, the great Hal Holbrook.
This is superb stuff. Timing is perfect. No rush. Reminds me a lot of Maggie for some reason. Just confidence in the performance and the writing.
Bit of background fluff worth noting is Holbrook performed it first at a teacher's college in 1954. It took another twelve years and he made it onto Broadway, after first being off-Broadway. A long, slow, builder.
He's been doing it for 58 years!
Hmm.
--
So, the great Hal Holbrook.
This is superb stuff. Timing is perfect. No rush. Reminds me a lot of Maggie for some reason. Just confidence in the performance and the writing.
Bit of background fluff worth noting is Holbrook performed it first at a teacher's college in 1954. It took another twelve years and he made it onto Broadway, after first being off-Broadway. A long, slow, builder.
He's been doing it for 58 years!
Okay, a list of American Names
Here's a bunch of mostly American one person shows, and some of the nuances of each. I know, it's Wiki. I'm bad. But it's just a starter for ten. Swear.
Down the list you'll see Patrick Stewart did a one person show of the Christmas Carol. Get outta fucking town Pat.
Since solo shows have long been the domain of comic performers,[citation needed] it should be no surprise that many American comedy stars, past and present, have come to prominence through this genre. Performers include Lily Tomlin, Andy Kaufman, Rod Maxwell, Lord Buckley, Eric Bogosian, Whoopi Goldberg, Jade Esteban Estrada, Eddie Izzard, John Leguizamo, Anna Deavere Smith, Bill Hicks, Hugh Morgan "Brother Blue" Hill and Lenny Bruce.
Several performers have presented solo shows in tribute to famous personalities. The blueprint for this type of show may have been drafted by Hal Holbrook, who has performed as Mark Twain in his solo show, Mark Twain Tonight, more than 2,000 times since 1954. Examples since that time include Julie Harris in the Emily Dickinson biography, The Belle of Amherst; Tovah Feldshuh as Golda Meir in Golda's Balcony; Alan Safier as George Burns in Say Goodnight Gracie[2] by Rupert Holmes; Ed Metzger in his solo show, performing since 1978, Albert Einstein, The Practical Boheian; and Ed Metzger in another one-person show Hemingway, On The Edge.
In what was possibly the only instance in which an actor adapted an entire novel for the stage, Patrick Stewart played all 43 parts in his version of A Christmas Carol, which played three times on Broadway and at the Old Vic in London, while the actor Gerald Charles Dickens plays 26 characters in his performances from the same work. Jack Aranson starred in a one man 13 character production of Moby Dick.
One-person shows may be personal, autobiographical creations. This ranges from the intensely confessional but comedic work of Spalding Gray, the semi-autobiographical A Bronx Tale by Chaz Palminteri, or Holly Hughes' solo piece World without End, in which she attempts to make sense of her relationship with her mother who had died.
Still other shows may rally around a central theme, such as pop culture in Pat Hazel's The Wonderbread Years, relationships in Robert Dubac's The Male Intellect, the history of the New York City transit system in Mike Daisey's Invincible Summer, or fighting the system in Patrick Combs' Man 1, Bank 0.
Sometimes, solo shows are simply traditional plays written by playwrights for a cast of one. Examples: Shirley Valentine by Willy Russell, I Am My Own Wife by Doug Wright, The Blonde, the Brunette and the Vengeful Redhead by Robert Hewett and Topless by Miles Tredinnick. A recent prolific performer of shows of this type is Chris Harris, whose performances in the genre include Kemp's Jig, That's The Way To Do It!, Ally Sloper's Half Holiday, Beemaster, 'Arris Music 'All and A Night At The Pantomime.[3]
There is also room in this genre for the inclusion of other art forms. Poetry pervades the work of Dael Orlandersmith, sleight-of-hand mastery informs Ricky Jay's self-titled Ricky Jay and His 52 Assistants, magical and psychic performance skills are part of Neil Tobin's Supernatural Chicago.
North American Fringe festivals have provided platforms for many solo artists, including T.J. Dawe, Charles Ross, Amy Salloway and Susan Jeremy.
There have also been many British comedians who have moved away from performing pure stand-up comedy in recent years. The shows that appear annually at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe can involve stories of pathos and the use of technological equipment such as projectors. Examples include Howard Read, who has performed with the animated character Little Howard which was projected with the aid of computers and Dave Gorman, who has performed several shows described as "documentary comedy".
Down the list you'll see Patrick Stewart did a one person show of the Christmas Carol. Get outta fucking town Pat.
Since solo shows have long been the domain of comic performers,[citation needed] it should be no surprise that many American comedy stars, past and present, have come to prominence through this genre. Performers include Lily Tomlin, Andy Kaufman, Rod Maxwell, Lord Buckley, Eric Bogosian, Whoopi Goldberg, Jade Esteban Estrada, Eddie Izzard, John Leguizamo, Anna Deavere Smith, Bill Hicks, Hugh Morgan "Brother Blue" Hill and Lenny Bruce.
Several performers have presented solo shows in tribute to famous personalities. The blueprint for this type of show may have been drafted by Hal Holbrook, who has performed as Mark Twain in his solo show, Mark Twain Tonight, more than 2,000 times since 1954. Examples since that time include Julie Harris in the Emily Dickinson biography, The Belle of Amherst; Tovah Feldshuh as Golda Meir in Golda's Balcony; Alan Safier as George Burns in Say Goodnight Gracie[2] by Rupert Holmes; Ed Metzger in his solo show, performing since 1978, Albert Einstein, The Practical Boheian; and Ed Metzger in another one-person show Hemingway, On The Edge.
In what was possibly the only instance in which an actor adapted an entire novel for the stage, Patrick Stewart played all 43 parts in his version of A Christmas Carol, which played three times on Broadway and at the Old Vic in London, while the actor Gerald Charles Dickens plays 26 characters in his performances from the same work. Jack Aranson starred in a one man 13 character production of Moby Dick.
One-person shows may be personal, autobiographical creations. This ranges from the intensely confessional but comedic work of Spalding Gray, the semi-autobiographical A Bronx Tale by Chaz Palminteri, or Holly Hughes' solo piece World without End, in which she attempts to make sense of her relationship with her mother who had died.
Still other shows may rally around a central theme, such as pop culture in Pat Hazel's The Wonderbread Years, relationships in Robert Dubac's The Male Intellect, the history of the New York City transit system in Mike Daisey's Invincible Summer, or fighting the system in Patrick Combs' Man 1, Bank 0.
Sometimes, solo shows are simply traditional plays written by playwrights for a cast of one. Examples: Shirley Valentine by Willy Russell, I Am My Own Wife by Doug Wright, The Blonde, the Brunette and the Vengeful Redhead by Robert Hewett and Topless by Miles Tredinnick. A recent prolific performer of shows of this type is Chris Harris, whose performances in the genre include Kemp's Jig, That's The Way To Do It!, Ally Sloper's Half Holiday, Beemaster, 'Arris Music 'All and A Night At The Pantomime.[3]
There is also room in this genre for the inclusion of other art forms. Poetry pervades the work of Dael Orlandersmith, sleight-of-hand mastery informs Ricky Jay's self-titled Ricky Jay and His 52 Assistants, magical and psychic performance skills are part of Neil Tobin's Supernatural Chicago.
North American Fringe festivals have provided platforms for many solo artists, including T.J. Dawe, Charles Ross, Amy Salloway and Susan Jeremy.
There have also been many British comedians who have moved away from performing pure stand-up comedy in recent years. The shows that appear annually at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe can involve stories of pathos and the use of technological equipment such as projectors. Examples include Howard Read, who has performed with the animated character Little Howard which was projected with the aid of computers and Dave Gorman, who has performed several shows described as "documentary comedy".
Eric Bogsonian
Fuck, right, I get the link now. This is the guy from the brilliant Stone flick who ruled the screen with this incredible dialogue and performance as a mouthy radio show host. Seems he was an active bunny.
Bogsonian has just made his debut on Broadway in a show called Time Stands Still.
http://www.ericbogosian.com/news.html
Upon further reading...he wrote the play for Talk Radio too. Before or after the movie? What a great play. What a great play to put on...
Okay, ordered his stuff. Will come back when I've read it...
What I remember is the naturalistic dialogue. However, I also like dialogue that goes whoope-de-doop-de-doo. Suppose gotta find your own style here.
Bogsonian has just made his debut on Broadway in a show called Time Stands Still.
http://www.ericbogosian.com/news.html
Upon further reading...he wrote the play for Talk Radio too. Before or after the movie? What a great play. What a great play to put on...
Okay, ordered his stuff. Will come back when I've read it...
What I remember is the naturalistic dialogue. However, I also like dialogue that goes whoope-de-doop-de-doo. Suppose gotta find your own style here.
Intro to...it
I realised after writing the monologues and getting feedback from some very good actors that I have a skill writing for the ear, something quick, something interesting, if I know the story and the character.
It'd be good to have other strings to my bow, apart from just film and TV, and since they are very slow to get of the ground, why not take a look at something for theatre? (or not even theatre, Dermott mentioned just doing things on the street, or in bars, or in toilets)
It doesn't cost an arm and a leg to do it. Plus I can do great promo's using my video skills, to sell the show to a theatre and use the writing and contacts to draw in actors.
It's a good way to get good work of the ground and it's a lot of fun. Plus, you can't fucking download a play.
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So, with all that in mind I thought maybe the best place to start was a ONE HANDER. What da fuck do I know about one-handers?
Here's a bit from Wiki, which is interesting because the woman in question, whose written a book called Extreme Exposure, defines the solo performer as a storyteller. That makes perfect sense to me, since one of the best plays I've ever seen was that one woman show in Queens with the Aboriginal lady (albeit a dude sat in the back and played guitar to help with the travel and the audiences attention)
In the preface of the book Extreme Exposure, editor Jo Bonney uses the term "solo performance" to encompass those performers who do not necessarily have a comedic history. She suggests that "at the most basic level, despite their limitless backgrounds and performance styles, all solo performers are storytellers."
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This tradition, of storytelling, appeals to me.
Resources
Eric Bogsonian - An example of how Eric Bogosian builds a character can be found in the published version of his show Wake Up And Smell the Coffee, by Theatre Communications Group, New York.
Krapp's Last Tape - I have it already.
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